Barding and Songs
Bards on UO Sagas play songs instead of using the classic bard skills directly. Songs are learned from music sheets, collected in a Songbook, and grow stronger as you earn Barding Points and raise your Bard Level.
Getting Started
The Bard NPC sells everything you need:
- A Songbook (blessed) — drop music sheets into it to learn songs.
- Music sheets for each song, 450 gold apiece: Song of Provocation, Peacemaking, Discordance, Healing, Fortune and Light.
You also need a musical instrument in your backpack to play. Right-click the Songbook to open the bard menu, where you can see your Bard Level and spend points on your songs.
General Rules
- Bard range:
8 + (skill / 20)tiles — "skill" is the song's own skill (e.g. Provocation), or Musicianship for the Repertoire songs. - Cooldown: after playing any song there is a cooldown before you can play another song of any kind (7 seconds for most songs, 10 for Fortune and Light). Failing a song only costs half the cooldown.
- Instruments matter: exceptional instruments make songs easier to land, low-quality ones harder; magic instruments can add directly to your skill.
- Some creatures are immune to all bard songs.
Bard Level
Playing songs earns Barding Points. Each Bard Level grants 1 point to spend on the Duration or Potency of one skill-based song in your Songbook.
Barding Points needed per level:
| Level | Points | Level | Points | Level | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,000 | 12 | 11,500 | 23 | 21,000 |
| 2 | 1,900 | 13 | 12,500 | 24 | 22,000 |
| 3 | 2,900 | 14 | 13,400 | 25 | 23,000 |
| 4 | 3,800 | 15 | 14,400 | 26 | 24,000 |
| 5 | 4,800 | 16 | 15,400 | 27 | 25,000 |
| 6 | 5,800 | 17 | 15,000 | 28 | 26,000 |
| 7 | 6,700 | 18 | 16,000 | 29 | 27,000 |
| 8 | 7,700 | 19 | 17,000 | 30 | 28,100 |
| 9 | 8,700 | 20 | 18,100 | 31 | 29,000 |
| 10 | 9,600 | 21 | 19,000 | 32 | 30,000 |
| 11 | 10,600 | 22 | 20,000 |
The maximum is 32 points in total — on average enough to bring 2 of the 4 skill-based songs to max duration and max potency.
Earning Barding Points
| Source | Points |
|---|---|
| Damage you deal to a target you pacified yourself | 50% of the damage |
| Damage others deal to a target you pacified | 25% of the damage |
| Damage dealt by creatures you provoked | 50% of the damage |
| Extra damage caused by your Discordance | 50% of the bonus damage (also when others hit the target) |
| Healing with the Song of Healing | 1 point per hit point healed (healing others, not yourself) |
Songs and Skill Checks
There are two kinds of songs:
Skill-based songs — Song of Provocation, Peacemaking, Discordance and Healing. Playing one first checks Musicianship; if that succeeds, the song's own skill is checked. These songs can be leveled up in Duration and Potency (up to 8 each) with your Bard Level points. The Skill Mastery perk Virtuoso adds another +1 Duration and +1 Potency per perk level to Provocation, Peacemaking and Discordance — so their effective maximum is 16, while Healing caps at 8.
Repertoire songs — Song of Light and Song of Fortune. These require the Musicianship Skill Mastery with the Repertoire perk (template bonus) at level 1 or higher. Only Musicianship is checked, and they grow stronger with your Repertoire level instead of Bard Level points.
Song of Provocation
Provokes a creature to attack another creature. Bound to Provocation.
| Cooldown | 7 seconds |
| Default duration | 20 seconds |
| Duration levels | +2 seconds per level (combined with Virtuoso) |
| Potency levels | Reduce the song difficulty (see below) |
| Note | Creatures stop fighting when the provocation ends |
Duration example: with Duration 6 and Virtuoso 5, (6 + 5) * 2 + 20 = 42 seconds — the maximum
is 52 seconds.
Song of Peacemaking
Bound to Peacemaking. Two modes:
| Self-targeted (area) | Single target | |
|---|---|---|
| Effect | Calms all creatures within 6 tiles for a moment | Calms one creature for a long duration |
| Cooldown | 7 seconds | 7 seconds |
| Default duration | 1 second | 20 seconds |
| Duration levels | +0.1s per level (max 1.8s) | +2s per level (max 36s) |
| With Virtuoso | up to 2.6s total | up to 52s total |
| Potency levels | No effect | Reduce the song difficulty |
Tune Shattering: a wounded pacified creature has a chance to break free when it takes damage — the more wounded it is, the likelier. "Tune Shattered" is shown when it happens.
Against players (single-target mode only): you can only peace a player who is in PvP combat (or yourself). It takes the target out of war mode and interrupts spellcasting — though the Protection spell can resist it. Peacing a player adds 2 seconds to your cooldown.
Song of Discordance
Reduces the damage the target deals and increases the damage it takes. Bound to Discordance.
| Cooldown | 7 seconds |
| Default duration | 20 seconds |
| Default effect | 15% less damage dealt, 15% more damage taken |
| Duration levels | +2 seconds per level (combined with Virtuoso, max 52s) |
| Potency levels | +1.5% effect per level, and difficulty reduction |
Effect example: with Potency 8 and Virtuoso 8, 15% + 16 × 1.5% = 39% — the maximum.
Song of Healing
An area heal-over-time that affects you and nearby party members. Bound to Healing — requires 80.0 Healing to play. Cannot be played while in PvP combat.
| Cooldown | 7 seconds |
| First tick | after 6 seconds |
| Default duration | 2 ticks |
| Tick interval | 20 − Duration/2 seconds (best: 16 seconds) |
| Duration levels | +1 tick per level (max 10 ticks) |
| Healing | 5 + 2 × Potency hit points per tick (max 21) |
| Potency levels | Also reduce the song difficulty (fixed base difficulty 115) |
Song of Light
Grants night sight to the bard and nearby party members. Requires the Repertoire perk.
| Cooldown | 10 seconds |
| Default duration | 10 minutes |
| Repertoire levels | +2 minutes per level (max 26 minutes) |
Song of Fortune
Grants a Luck bonus to the bard and nearby party members. Requires the Repertoire perk.
| Cooldown | 10 seconds |
| Default duration | 10 minutes |
| Luck bonus | 2 luck per Repertoire level (max 16) |
| Repertoire levels | +2 minutes duration per level (max 26 minutes) |
| Party members | Receive 50% of the bard's luck bonus |
Difficulty
For Provocation, Peacemaking and Discordance, a song's difficulty depends on the target's overall strength — from 25 (weak creatures) to 180 (the strongest). The Song of Healing has a fixed difficulty of 115; the Repertoire songs use a fixed 95 (guaranteed success at 120 Musicianship).
Bonuses that reduce the difficulty:
- Every Musicianship point above 100 reduces it by 1 (max 20 at 120 skill).
- An exceptional instrument reduces it by 5 (a low-quality one adds 5).
- A magic instrument's skill bonus adds directly to your skill value.
- Every Potency level of the song reduces it by 3 (max 24).
- Every Virtuoso perk level adds another Potency point (up to another 24).
Example: fully developed bard
Maximum possible bonuses: 20 (Musicianship 120) + 5 (exceptional instrument) + 24 (Potency 8) + 24 (Virtuoso 8) = 73.
Against the strongest creatures (difficulty 180): 180 − 73 = 107. Your 120 skill is checked
against a 82–132 window, giving (120 − 82) / (132 − 82) = 76% success. With a magic
instrument's skill bonus this climbs further:
| Instrument skill bonus | Success chance |
|---|---|
| +5 | 78% |
| +10 | 80% |
| +15 | 82% |
| +20 | 83% |
| +25 | 84% |
Example: mid-game bard
A Lich-strength creature (difficulty 100) against a bard with 100 skill, an exceptional
instrument (5), Potency 2 and Virtuoso 4 (total bonus 17): 100 − 17 = 83, checked against a
58–108 window → (100 − 58) / (108 − 58) = 84%. With a +10 magic instrument: 87%.
Skill Mastery
The Musicianship Skill Mastery is a big part of a developed bard: Rhythm of Ruin boosts your damage against creatures under your bard effects, Virtuoso raises song potency and duration, and Repertoire unlocks the Songs of Light and Fortune — plus the Melodic Mayhem ultimate.